Expecting Love
by Child of Loki
Summary: Kate is pregnant and Tony gets shot. Will they finally be able to come to terms with their real feelings?
1. Default Chapter

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

Tony pulled her close, until her protruding belly was pressed tightly against his own flat stomach. The distance between their faces was still vast enough that he had to lean in to kiss her. He kissed her forehead and her cheek, her lips and her neck. His hands roamed under clothes, caressing her skin.

Kate smiled at him and returned his eager embraces. The heat and desire between them intensified until she reluctantly broke it off, pushing him away. He gave her a puzzled looked at being deterred.

"It's not that I don't want to, Tony," Kate tried to explain. "But I'm six and a half months pregnant. You know-"

"Yeah, yeah. It wouldn't be good for the baby," Tony conceded. Kate gave him a frustrated look.

"It _really _wouldn't be good for the baby if I went into labor and it was born almost three months early!" she snapped at him. She was feeling very uncomfortable carrying all that weight around. Her back was beginning to ache, and she really just wanted to be held in Tony's arms again. And it really was _his_ fault she was in this situation. If he hadn't gotten her pregnant she wouldn't be in pain right now. Not to mention that she would be able to enjoy his affections again.

He sighed at her emotional turbulence. He had thought that she could change moods quickly before, but now that she was over six months pregnant her mood changed direction faster than the wind. Not more than a few seconds ago he had been kissing her and she had been affectionately returning his embrace. Now she was looking at him with fury and contempt in her eyes. He knew not to take it seriously, that there was love somewhere beneath the resentment on the surface. "Why don't you lie down, Kate? It's been a long day," he suggested.

Kate sighed. "I guess you're right," she conceded, her hand resting on her lower back, trying to support the weight of her overburdened belly.

Tony escorted her to their bedroom. They had decided to move in together after she had revealed her pregnancy to him. He was glad that she had accepted him instead of pushing him away when she found herself in the awkward situation of an unexpected pregnancy. Their relationship had strengthened since then, and he thought it had been going pretty well. He wasn't sure what the future would for him and Kate, but he knew they were both committed to their unborn child, which was currently wreaking havoc on her body and emotions.

He helped Kate onto the bed. She wiggled around, unable to get comfortable. She whined in frustration as she moved to lie on her side, and then proceeded to shift onto her back again. Tony truly felt bad for her. She seemed to be in a constant state of discomfort or outright pain for the past week.

"Is your back bothering you again?" he asked in as innocently a tone of voice he could muster so as not to provoke a verbal assault.

"What do you think?" Kate growled from her unsettled position on the bed. She realized that he was concerned about her discomfort and gave him a pleading look, begging for him to relieve her suffering.

He knew what that look was for, and he wasn't going to deny her in sorry state. "You want me to give you a back rub?" he offered, smiling at the fact that he was the solution to her problem. He had to admit to himself that he secretly liked that part of the pregnancy best. The fact that Kate needed him was a great source of pleasure for Tony. He would have loved to draw out the moment longer, and force her to plead and beg with him. But he also remembered the fact that he was the cause of her discomfort, at least partly. So when she nodded at him with that pleading look in her eyes, he immediately sat down on the bed behind her and began to massage her back.

Her little sighs of relief and pleasure mad him smile. They sat in relative silence except for the sounds of Kate's heavy breathing and the seldom moan as he hit a sore spot in her muscles. It became an almost meditative state between the two of them, their bond almost tangible, like the child within Kate's womb.

The phone rang, breaking their silent reverie. Tony jumped up to answer the phone as Kate sighed in disappointment. They both knew who would be calling and why. She heard him talking in the other room, and with her suspicions confirmed Kate heaved another sigh and lied back down on the bed. Her back pain had almost been alleviated by Tony's massage, too.

He walked back into the room to find Kate tossing around on the bed trying to get comfortable. "Umm…Kate. I'm sorry. That was Gibbs. They need me back at HQ," said apologetically. He felt bad about leaving her when she needed his attention. "Is there anything I can get you while I'm out?"

Kate seemed to perk up at the offer, propping herself up off her back in order to look at Tony. She hadn't considered the fact that he'd feel guilty about leaving her and could be forced to fetch something that she desired. She had only been thinking about spending another night alone in discomfort. Her stomach rumbled, letting her know what she should request. "I'd like some Chinese food…please?" Kate requested with the most pathetic look on her face that she could rally. She knew that she had to lay the guilt on thick because finding Chinese take-out at the time of night he'd be returning would prove difficult, and he'd need motivation.

He felt so bad at having to leave that she could have requested the liver of an extinct animal species and he'd still try and obtain it for her. With the look she gave him, he'd probably do anything she asked, even thought he knew it was a ploy to instill guilt in him. "Okay, Kate. Your wish is my command," he said with his usual DiNozzo charm.

"Wait, Tony!" she stopped him as he was leaving the bedroom. "Maybe I want Thai," she said timidly. She couldn't decide. She changed her mind, thinking about how her stomach might react to the spicy food. "No. I want Chinese.'

Tony shook his head at her, laughing at how indecisive she had become. "Whatever you want," he told her, walking over to where she was lying on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"I want Chinese," Kate said, finally making up her mind.

"Okay. Chinese it is," Tony confirmed her order. He kissed her on the lips this time. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear before leaving her to spend the night alone and uncomfortably pregnant in their apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's note: I'm not that familiar with the characters, so they aren't very acurate. Plus, it's not like this scenario ever would have popped up anyway. I guess I'm just having fun...**

Kate was awoken by a pounding sound. Someone was knocking on the apartment door. "Oh God! Tony!" she swore to herself. "If you've forgotten your keys again…This is the last time I'm letting you in!" She shouted, perturbed at having to get out of bed. There was only another set of knocks in response. That wasn't like Tony, she thought as she got out of bed and slipped on her flip-flops. He would usual shout right back at her. She went to answer the door. Who she found was someone she didn't expect to see.

"Gibbs. What's going on?" she asked, nonplussed by his appearance at her door in the middle of the night. She opened the door a little wider to let him in. Then realization dawned on her, and she backed towards the wall for support to prevent herself from collapsing. "What's happened to Tony?" she asked shakily, trying to hold herself up against the wall. A small fear in the back of her mind-which was growing stronger by the second- told her that the father of her baby was dead. What was she going to do without him? He was dead. What was she going to do? She felt herself being pulled into the depths of despair. The few seconds until Gibbs' response dragged on for what felt like an eternity to Kate. He grabbed her arm to stop her from sinking to the floor in hysterics. He looked her in the face but she wouldn't meet his eyes. If she didn't look at him, he couldn't tell her that Tony was dead, and then Tony couldn't be dead.

"Look at me, Kate," Gibbs ordered her. She couldn't resist the authoritative tone of his voice. She reluctantly met his eyes and braced herself for the worse. "We went to apprehend a suspect and Tony was shot. We took him to the hospital. He's in surgery right now," Gibbs explained as clearly and calmly as possible.

A wave of relief came over Kate. He was still alive. Another part of her warned her that he could still die, that just because he made it to the hospital didn't mean anything. The fear started to overwhelm her again. She looked to Gibbs for reassurance. "How serious is it?" she asked, barely holding herself together.

Gibbs took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "He _will_ be fine," he informed her in his most commanding voice. Kate sighed in relief. If Gibbs said it, it was true. It didn't matter whether or not it was probable, or even if it was possible. Gibbs said it, and Gibbs was always right. That was enough to pull Kate out of her despair.

"Let's go," she said, grabbing a jacket off the coat rack near the door. She was still in a state of shock, even if the fear had finally left her. She didn't even know if she needed a jacket. She couldn't even remember if it was summer or winter. She only knew that she wanted to get to Tony, to see him again. Kate and Gibbs left the apartment, and she took the keys from her coat pocket to lock the door behind them. She couldn't manage to get the key into the lock she was shaking so badly. Gibbs took the key from her hand and locked the door for her. Then he guided her down to his car, and opened the rear passenger-side door for her. "Airbags," he explained. "You should sit in the back."

She nodded at him, not really understanding, and got into the car. He closed the door and walked around to the driver's side and got in. It took Kate three tries to get the seatbelt buckled, misjudging the length necessary to circumnavigate her swollen belly. He started the engine and they drove in silence to the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

They found Abby sitting in the sparse hospital waiting room. It was decorated in calming neutral colors, which didn't seem to do anything to calm its few occupants, especially the young woman nervously clasping and unclasping her hands. Abby hated having nothing to do, especially in a situation such as this one. But someone had to stay at the hospital in case there was any news about Tony, and she really didn't want to be the one to inform Kate. They were friends, but that would have only made it worse. Kate didn't need to hear it from a sobbing Abby. She had remained collected so far, but facing Kate would prove very trying for her. Abby told herself that she shouldn't break down because Tony was going to be all right anyway. So when she saw Gibbs and Kate enter the waiting room, she resolved herself to stop worrying about Tony, and to focus on supporting Kate. She nearly jumped to her feet to greet them.

"How's Tony?" Kate asked blankly. She felt like she was having an out-of-body experience. This just couldn't be happening. Not now. Not to Tony. Not to her.

Seeing that her friend was in a rather severe state of shock, Abby guided her to a tan waiting-room chair. Holding her hands in her own, she sat down next to her. "Kate," she spoke softly. When there was no response on the distraught woman's face, she spoke more firmly to her. "Kate. Look at me. It's Abby. You asked me how Tony was." Kate slowly nodded her head and then turned her attention to the young woman sitting beside her.

"Good," Abby encouraged her friend to find her way back to reality. Making sure that Kate was paying attention to her, Abby proceeded to inform her of Tony's condition. "Tony's still in surgery. As soon as he's out someone is going to come and tell us how it went. Okay?"

Kate nodded her head in response. She was still caught up in her frantic feelings of concern and despair. Abby wanted to make sure that she had gotten through to Kate. "Did you get all of that?" she probed cautiously, hoping to invoke a verbal response.

"Yes," Kate replied quietly. She still seemed a million miles away. Abby squeezed her hands then released them as she rose to her feet. "I'm going to talk to Gibbs. Okay?" she told Kate, forcing a reassuring smile that everything was going to all right across her face.

She walked across the clean yet somehow dingy waiting room to where Gibbs had found enough space to pace back and forth. Normally, she would have made some sly comment about his nervous tendencies, but she was too concerned about Kate, not to mention Tony.

"Gibbs," she interrupted the older man's train of thought. He stopped pacing and faced her. "I'm worried about Kate," she said, letting the concern show through as wrinkles around the corners of her turned down lips, which normally would have been pursed into a smile. "She's in an awful state of shock."

Gibbs looked at his little lab rat, letting just a trace of worry reveal itself in his face. "I know," was his only reply.

Abby was about to return to her seat at Kate's side, having given up on communicating with Gibbs, when a middle-aged woman wearing a white lab coat walked into the waiting room. Abby recognized the lab coat as the style belonging to a doctor rather than, like her own, the style belonging to a lab technician. The woman with graying light brown hair scanned the room quickly. Identifying her target, she approached the gruff looking man and strangely dressed young woman.

"Agent Gibbs?" she asked, although she vividly remembered the fuss he had made when he brought the injured younger man into the ER. "You brought an Anthony Dinozzo in?"

Gibbs looked at the woman scrutinizingly, trying to discern any information about Tony's condition from her appearance. There was nothing. She was solidly impassive. It must be years of this kind of work, he decided. It told him that she was in total control of the situation and that he couldn't weasel his way around her. He'd have to play by her rules. "Yes, that's right."

"How is he?" Abby blurted in. She couldn't stand Gibbs slow, methodically interrogative pace of conversation. The doctor turned her attention from the commanding presence to the younger woman, curious at her involvement in the situation. But she had seen a lot of different types of people, so she shrugged it off and got down to business.

"Mr. Dinozzo is out of surgery and has been moved to a room. We were able to remove the bullet and stop any internal bleeding. He is breathing on his own, and should make a full recovery," she informed them. With a stern look to the older man, she added, "provided that he is given enough time to fully recover." She knew their type, like cops and other federal agents they would work themselves to death if they were given the chance. She wasn't about to let that be the fate of her patient. "He'll have to stay here under my supervision for at least a week."

Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement of the stern doctor's orders. Despite what other people thought, he knew when to follow orders.

"Can we see him?" Abby asked. Gibbs was no good at this, she thought. He didn't know what questions to ask. You couldn't just leave the doctor to tell you the information. That never got you anywhere. Besides, she didn't like the silent obedience Gibbs was giving the woman doctor.

"I'm afraid not. He's still unconscious and we usually only let immediate family visit," the doctor replied flatly. It was a speech she had given a thousand times.

Now Gibbs could do something. This was the kind of problem he could solve. He stopped Abby from objecting by raising his hand slightly in her direction. "You see that woman over there?" he asked the doctor, pointing to where Kate sat silently staring unblinkingly at the opposing wall.

The doctor followed his pointing finger and gaze towards a woman sitting in one of the waiting room chairs. She looked as if her brain had completely shut down. The doctor diagnosed it as a severe case of shock. The physical appearance of the woman only confirmed the idea that she was under extreme emotional duress. She was wearing a coat at least, but underneath she wore a tank top that did nothing to cover her obviously pregnant belly and flannel pajama bottoms. Her feet were barely protected from the elements by a pair of cheap plastic thong sandals. Besides the obvious state of shock she was suffering, she appeared to be fine. How this woman fit into the situation with the Goth girl and two agents was beyond her immediate comprehension. She turned back to Gibbs with a so-what expression.

Gibbs decided to spell it out for her. At least he tried. "She's his…" he trailed off. What exactly was the nature of Kate and Tony's relationship? Up until now he didn't care to know. "That's…umm…his…"

"That's his baby," Abby chimed in on Gibbs behalf. Gibbs looked relieved as he took a sip from a coffee cup, something that seemed to perpetually be in his hand.

"I suppose it would be okay if we let her in to see him," conceded the doctor. She would have hated to ever be in the poor woman's shoes, or flip-flops as it were.

Gibbs seemed to be over his brief lapse in efficiency, and jumped on the opportunity. "She shouldn't be left alone. She's in shock," he offered the doctor.

"I can see that," she snapped as him. She didn't like where this was going. She could see that he was trying to take control of the situation. It was her situation. She was the one with the control. But she was tired. It was near the end of her shift, and she didn't feel like wasting anymore time or energy arguing with the man. She sighed heavily.

Gibbs could see that she was relenting, as her façade became less stern and impassive. She looked him in the eyes and he nodded at her, giving her permission to give in to him. "You're right, Mr. Gibbs. Go ahead. But if I catch you disturbing Mr. Dinozzo in any way…you all are out of here! Got that?"

"Yes ma'am," Gibbs replied, knowing that he had won and smiling about it.

"I'll get Kate," Abby offered, turning to walk over to the distraught woman.

"No. I will," Gibbs said, stopping her and walking over to where Kate was sitting himself. Abby got the room number from the doctor while Gibbs explained the situation to Kate and helped her out of the chair. The three of them left the waiting room to check on their injured friend.


	4. Chapter 4

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's Note: Two things. 1. Why this story is so sappy, I really don't know. I didn't think I had a feeling part in me. 2. I have no clue where this is going. But I'll keep on going wherever it leads because at least a few of you enjoy this for some reason...and I could use the practice writing.**

Kate entered the small once white now cream-colored hospital room. The smell made her instantly nauseous. How could they stick Tony in here? It smelled like thirty years of vomit covered up with thirty years of cleaning fluids, with the odd death thrown in, too. She instantly forgot about the smell when she saw him lying peacefully on the small hospital bed.

She made her way to his side as quickly as she could manage, which wasn't very quickly, her being overly large for only six and a half months pregnant. She stroked his cheek with her hand. She had never seen it so smooth, for it usually was wrinkled in a smile at her. She had never seen his face so still. He was always smiling at her or talking to her. Always talking. She often wished that he would just shut-up, that he'd just be peaceful for a moment. She regretted it now. It wasn't like he'd never smile at her again. She probably wouldn't be able to get him to shut up in another day or so. It wasn't like her was dead. He was alive. He was still breathing. She could feel his hot breath on her hand, slow and rhythmic. But he was so still. It frightened her how still he was. Even in his sleep, he wasn't this still. He thought she slept through it, but she felt it. She felt it when he tossed and turned, when he quietly slipped an arm around her in the middle of the night. She felt the tender kisses her tried to place stealthily on her while she slept. But now he slept without moving close to her, without cradling her in his arms. She wondered if he was dreaming of her while he lay so still, _so still_.

"Oh, Tony," she whispered, barely audible. She wiped a tear from her cheek. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face Gibbs. She felt embarrassed. Tony was fine, and she was still having an emotional breakdown. She tried to blame it on hormones, but knew that it wasn't because she was pregnant. "Oh, I'm being silly," she said to Gibbs as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I-I just..."

"Shh," Gibbs said coaxingly, pulling her into a hug, As she sobbed silently into his shoulder, he thought about how this was the reason why he always said agents shouldn't get involved with one another. It may be callous but, in a situation like this, he'd rather be interrogating suspects than coddling an emotional mess of a woman. Plus, because they weren't careful, or maybe they did it on purpose to annoy him, he currently had two incapacitated agents. That was two less agents in the field getting things done. That meant more work, because he didn't want to waste time breaking in more agents who were only going to serve as temps. At least, this situation had better be temporary. He didn't really care if Tony and Kate's relationship continued, as long as it didn't affect him. In fact, he hadn't even noticed something had changed between them until she ended up pregnant. _That _had signs he _couldn't_ miss, like the vomiting and Tony's overly protective and even polite manner towards her. But come to find out, they had been...whatever it was they ere doing, for several months prior to the whole...situation. Gibbs thought that he must be slipping, or they were finding better ways to get around him. No, _he_ must be slipping. He'd have to work on that.

Kate broke off the hug and composed herself as best she could, breaking off Gibbs' line of thought in the process. He guided her to a chair and sat her down. She nodded her head in gratitude. He returned it. "I'm getting some more coffee," he told them, before leaving the room.

Kate looked over at her only other fully conscious companion. Abby was leaning over, whispering something into Tony's ear. She then proceeded to laugh. The fact that he was lying there as still as a corpse didn't seem to bother her. Kate didn't know if she despised it or was proud of her friend's strength of character. Maybe she was jealous. But maybe Abby wouldn't be this composed if it was the man she-someone that she was close to who was lying there. She didn't want to say it. They hadn't said it yet. She didn't even want to think it. She thought-they both thought that it would somehow weigh them down, that saying it would tie them together forever, that it would change things forever. Their situation was fine the way it was. She knew they could provide a good environment for their child without saying it. Besides, she knew it was down there somewhere deep inside, and that's where it really counted.

Abby plopped down in a chair beside Kate, having given up on her one-sided conversation with Tony. "I don't think I've ever seen him this quiet," she said smartly, having judged that Kate was feeling better. However, Kate's blank response led Abby to believe that maybe her mood wasn't quite ready to allow her to laugh.

Kate yawned. She looked wistfully at the man whom's body kept her warm at night, well, at least the nights when he wasn't dragged off to work by Gibbs. She wasn't sure what was worse, when she was dragged in with him, or when, since she'd been off field duty, she was forced to lie awake and alone at night. Right now, all she wanted to do was climb into that small little hospital bed and rest her head on his chest, falling asleep listening to his heartbeat. For a moment, she thoroughly regretted being pregnant. If she has been her regular size, instead of carrying around a beach ball full of water, she could've squeezed into that bed with him. Of course, if she hadn't been pregnant with his child, maybe she wouldn't have wanted to, or at least wouldn't have gotten away with it.

She yawned again. She was so exhausted. She figured that she only had gotten a few hours of sleep before Gibbs had woken her up. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then. Kate finally allowed herself to drift asleep, sitting in the chair a few feet away from her unconscious lover. Perhaps, they dreamed of each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's note: Yes, I'm still writing this one...although it seems like I just took the characters and ran with them. They're nothing like they're actual television counterparts... Also, I apologize as of that I am not extremely familiar with events/symptoms/things in general associated with pregnancy...**

**Warning: May include inaccurate use of tenses...It took me forever to figure out the tense that the flashback was supposed to be in, and it still doesn't sound quite right. And now that I've warned you, you'll definitely notice it, right?**

Kate awoke, still sitting in the chair in the hospital room. A look in Tony's direction told her that he was still unconscious. The peaceful state of the room told her that he hadn't regained consciousness while she slept, either. She smiled as she remembered what she had dreamt about. She had dreamt of the day that their relationship had first started to become more than coworkers.

That day, Gibbs had assigned her to stakeout duty. Her target hadn't been their main suspect, just an associate that he might contact, so she had been sent alone. Unfortunately, her target lived in one of those weird neighborhoods where there are never any cars around. So she had had to pretend to be sitting in the park across the road reading a book. It just must not have been her day, because it had started to rain almost immediately. She had had an umbrella, for what good it did her. She remembered that she had felt _really_ inconspicuous, sitting in a park while it down-poured. Lucky for her though, the target had been a very unobservant man. He hadn't seemed to notice his surroundings at all. It had been like he was in his own little world. Unlucky for her, she had sat there the whole day in the rain without learning any useful information.

She had arrived back at headquarters to find that everyone was packing up to head home for the day. She had embraced the idea. She had been soaking wet from her head to her toes, and down to her bones for that matter. The drive back hadn't been very pleasant either. She hadn't cared much if she got the interior of her car wet. It was more the fact that blasting the heat for the forty-minute drive hadn't warmed her up a bit. She had been shaking in fact, when she told Gibbs that she'd found nothing, and he had told her that she could file her report the next after she had gone home and gotten warm and some rest.

She had gathered her things and found that Tony had held the elevator for her on his way out. She had suddenly become very self-conscious as he stared at her in the elevator. She had deeply regretted wearing that white blouse when she was sopping wet and it was plastered to her skin. She had guessed that he could probably see everything underneath. Of course, she had been so wet that it wouldn't have mattered what color blouse she had worn. No matter what color her blouse was, she had felt there was no excuse for him to stare like he had, and she had told him so. "Do you need to stare like that, Dinozzo?" she had snapped at him.

"Not really. I always have that image from the picture of the wet t-shirt contest to ponder, if I want," he had replied. Apparently, he had noticed how badly she was shaking as well. "You don't look so good, Kate. You're lips are turning blue."

She remembered trying to brush of his concern with reassuring words. "I'm cold, not to mention wet. I'll be fine once I'm in dry clothes."

By the time they had reached the parking garage, she had been shaking worse than someone with Parkinson's disease and her teeth had been chattering loudly. Kate still thought that was as close as she'd ever get to being as cold as the grave without being dead. It hadn't taken much coaxing on Tony's part to convince her that she hadn't been well. And since she had been shivering too badly to make a forceful objection, he had insisted on taking her home.

She had seen a different side of Tony that night, one that she had never known existed. He had driven her home and had helped her up to her apartment. He probably would have refused to leave if she had pressed him to. But she hadn't. She had been afraid of passing out at any moment. He had politely waited outside her bedroom door while she had tried to change into dry clothes. She had been shaking so badly that she couldn't manage to unbutton her blouse, let alone peel it off as it tightly clung to her body. Normally, she would had never ever thought about doing what she had done next, but she had been cold and exhausted and was starting to get dizzy, and he hadn't been acting like the typical immature Dinozzo she had known.

So she had asked him to help her, praying that she wouldn't regret it later. She never did. He had given her a puzzled look over her request until he saw how violently she had been shaking. When she had almost collapsed, he had caught her and laid her gently on the floor. He had undressed her quietly and tenderly without ogling her as she had feared that he might have. He had found a pair of her warm flannel pajamas in her dresser, without snooping through her underwear drawer she had noticed, and then he had proceeded to dress her in them and tuck her into bed. He had had to ask where she kept her extra blankets before he had covered her in a pile of warm cottony bliss.

"I'll make you some soup to warm you up," he had told her before he had disappeared into the kitchen. He had come back a few minutes later to check on her. She had still been shaking badly despite all of the layers of blankets.

"So," she had managed to say between her teeth chattering. "You've seen me naked."

"And you've seen me naked," he had replied, a slight smile on his face despite the obvious disdain he had held for where the conversation was going. "Or don't you remember?"

"I remember," she had said coyly, despite her wretched condition. "How could I forget Anthony Dinozzo's bare ass?"

The fact that she had been trying to joke with him had seemed to cheer him up. "Does that mean that we're going steady?"

"I don't think so, Danny," she has replied weakly as she had begun to shiver violently again. She would never forget the look of concern she had seen on Tony's face, it had struck her so much.

"How do you feel?" he had asked her, serious for one of only a few times she had ever witnessed.

'I'm starting to sweat, but I'm still cold," she had replied truthfully. He must have had the dame thought she had because he had asked her where she kept her thermometer. After struggling to keep the glass tube under her tongue for a whole minute, he had informed her that she had had a fever of 101F. Being Tony, he had cracked a joke about how that must have been especially high for someone so cold blooded. That was the last thing she remembered before she had fallen into a delirious fever-induced sleep.

According to Tony, she had kept mumbling and tossing in her sleep. He also told her later that she had awoken several times and asked for a drink of water, and that her fever had topped put around 106F.

When she had awoke, he had been gone, and with him he had taken her confidence that she knew everything there was to know about the character of one Anthony Dinozzo. The whole incident must have left her more open to his advances because here she sat now, over a year later, pregnant with his child.

"What chya thinking about?" Abby asked breaking off Kate's distant look of recollection The Goth was wearing a different set of black clothing and chains, she noticed. That meant she had gone home and had come back. Kate was glad at that. She hated being a burden to anyone. Of course, that probably meant that Gibbs had kept an eye on her all night.

'Oh, nothing," Kate responded absently. She was still feeling warm and happy over the memory. The baby stirred in her belly, and with it reality came flooding back to her with pain in her back and hunger in her stomach. The discomfort reminded her of the reality of the situation she was in, and returned her attention to the reason she was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a hospital room instead of a warm bed.

"How's Tony?" she asked, trying to pick herself up out of the chair and failing miserably. She didn't have the strength for it and felt rather faint as she let herself plop back down into the chair.

"A lot better than you look," Gibbs replied. He had, like usual, entered the room undetected. Also, as per usual, he was holding a cup of coffee. "When was the last time you've eaten?" he asked Kate with an I-already-know-the-answer voice to cover up the concern.

"Uh…I-I don't remember," Kate replied, trying to recall yesterday's events besides the emergency, which was vivid in her memory. Yesterday seemed so long ago to her.

"You should eat," Gibbs commented in the way he had of making everything sound like an order. Kate looked to Abby for help. She didn't want to leave Tony alone and unconscious, even in the hospital. Plus, she didn't really think that she could get up without expending all of her remaining energy.

"Yeah, Kate," Abby agreed with Gibbs. _No help there_. "You really shouldn't be skipping meals. It could hurt you as well as the baby."

"I know," Kate conceded. "And I _am_ hungry. It's just that I…" She didn't know how to reveal how weak she felt. She didn't like people seeing her weaknesses. She barely had resigned herself to letting Tony see her when she was vulnerable. She looked at Gibbs, hoping that he'd understand.

He did. "You stay here. If Tony wakes up I know he'd rather see you then my scowling face," he rescued her from admitting her weakness publicly. "I'll get you something from the cafeteria."

He turned and left the room, leaving the two women shocked. Kate was relieved, but neither she nor Abby had ever seen Gibbs fetch something for somebody else, besides the caffeine drinks he gave to Abby. But that was somehow different. That was more of an exchange for her brilliant work, and an encouragement to keep it up. _This _was actually going to fetch something for someone else and getting nothing in return. Well, maybe it wasn't nothing. Gibbs had to feel useful, that's who he was. It made him feel like he was accomplishing something, especially since he couldn't order Tony to wake up or will him to be completely healed.


	6. Chapter 6

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

Gibbs brought Kate back a white paper bag from the hospital cafeteria and handed it to her. She noticed that his cup was steaming from being freshly refilled. She said a hurried but polite 'thank you' before opening the bag and ravenously exploring its contents. There was an apple, a banana, a bagel, a container of strawberry yogurt with a spoon, and a half-pint of milk. It was apparent that Gibbs had put some thought into it, instead of just grabbing for her a simple slice of toast or the like. She looked at him, but he avoided making eye contact with her. He didn't want her to think that he had gone soft or anything.

Her stomach growled at her and she grabbed the bagel. It had looked the most tempting to her appetite. She devoured half of it before she realized that Abby was staring at her. Remembering her manners, she offered part of the other half of bagel to the wide-eyed young women.

"Uh, No thanks, Kate," Abby replied to Kate's muted offering of bagel. She watched the pregnant woman chew vigorously on her mouthful of bagel, then continue to finish off the unfortunate bread product. She couldn't help but think that it deserved so much better, perhaps to be served with coffee to some PhD candidates discussing their doctoral work, or to writers who sipped herbal tea and listened to improv poetry. However, the bagel met its fate at the insatiable appetite of a rather worn and tired-looking hormonal woman, who now began to attack an ill-fated banana.

And it was at that moment that Tony's body chose to regain consciousness.

"I should've known that I'd wake up to you stuffing your face," a weak voice commented from where Tony lay. It distracted the two horrified onlookers who had been entranced by the massacring of breakfast foods. They turned to find their friend and co-worker had finally awoken.

Kate jumped up, forgetting about her earlier fatigue and rushed to Tony's bedside as she managed to swallow the last but of the ravaged banana. She was so happy that he was awake, but she couldn't let the insult go unchecked.

"I should have known that you'd pull something like this to get out of taking care of me," she said to him as she tried to take in every detail of his enlivened but groggy face. Her own glowing and relieved smile betrayed any gruffness or scolding the statement was meant to convey. He reached a hand out to her and she caught it, placing a kiss on its palm. He cradled her cheek with his hand, her own hand placed gently on the outside of his where the IV was taped to his skin. She smiled at him and tried to blink back the tears. Why was she behaving so emotional? He was fine. And she had just seen him right before he had left for work last night. He moved his hand and she let it slide down to rest upon her round belly, where her tank-top failed to cover her entire stomach.

Abby smiled at the engrossed couple, while Gibbs shifted uneasily at the tender moment they had witnessed. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy seeing kindness between people. God only knew that he had seen too many acts of hate. In fact, he secretly reveled in the fact that two good people that he knew could bring each other happiness. It was just that he felt like he had witnessed a moment so emotionally intimate that it wasn't meant for others to see. _That_ made him uncomfortable. Knowing that he could have been responsible for ending their moments, such as the one he had just witnessed, forever, _that_ bothered him even more. But it was their job. It was a risk they knew about. And it was his job to make sure that they did their jobs, despite how much watching this moment between them made him want to protect them from ever feeling hurt, from taking the risks. He took another drink of coffee to clear the thought from his head. He was in charge here, and these were _his_ agents, none of which who ere getting anything done.

"Okay, now that we know Dinozzo is his usual self, some of us have work to get back to," he said interrupting the affectionate couple and their rapt spectator. "Abby, I believe you have evidence in need of your singular attention."

"Oh, yeah, Gibbs," Abby said looking at her boss with an I-hope-this-doesn't-mean-I'm-in-trouble face. "I'll get right on it as soon as we get back."

"Does that mean visiting hours are over?" Tony asked faintly, trying to maintain his usual flair for the absurd.

"I guess it does, Dinozzo," Gibbs replied. "That means you, too, Kate," he added sending a strict look in her direction. How could he ask her to leave Tony now that he had just woken up? She sent him a defiant look in return. Deciding that pissing off a hormonal woman wouldn't be the most effective route, Gibbs decided to change tactics and reason with her. "Kate, you don't look very well. It would be best for you to go home, get some rest, eat a real meal, and _then_ come spend time with Tony-I don't know why you'd want to-after you feel better."

Kate sighed in response to her boss' litany. He was right, as usual. But she had just gotten Tony back after being threatened with never seeing him again. And she knew how he hated being alone. He'd especially hate being alone and confined to a hospital bed while in pain. She knew that he'd prefer her to be there, doting over him. However, maybe this small torture would pay him back for scaring her like he had. Maybe being left alone to suffer was just what he needed to appreciate her more. Then again, the pathetic look on his face, the dark circles under his eyes, the obvious presence of pain despite the medication, all made her want to comfort him. She was about to ask him permission to leave, more of a fish for an excuse to stay, when he spoke up first.

"Gibbs is right," he said in a slightly strained voice. He could see that she was completely worn out. Her skin was pale, lacking its usual color and the warm glow it had gained from pregnancy. He didn't want her or their baby's health to become another casualty of the incident that had landed him in the hospital. "You don't look so hot. Come back when you're something more appealing to look at." He tried weakly to insult her, proving that he would be fine without her there.

"Thanks a lot, Tony!" Kate snapped back. Surprisingly enough, despite all of her insecurities, the insult _did_ make her feel better. She looked at Abby whom was smiling at the interplay between the couple, knowing that they would both be okay. "Remind me why I put up with him again?" Kate asked rhetorically. None of them expected Abby's response.

"Because he knocked you up?" she said in her usual self-amused way. She had a flair for stating the obvious truths when no one else wanted to hear them. They had all avoided saying that type of thing openly. Kate and Tony had only discussed it at home, and tried avoiding acknowledgement of the fact in front of Gibbs at all cost. Gibbs had returned the favor by trying to ignore the situation as best as possible. Right now, he shook his head and smirked in his slightly amused manner. He loved how Abby could make people uncomfortable just by stating the truth in her loveable no-nonsense sort of way. He wondered at how people never seemed to hold it against the young woman, but despised him for basically the same behavior. He concluded that it must be the pigtails as Kate proceeded to blush and Tony turned a couple of shades paler.

The awkward moment was broken by the entrance of a nurse and the doctor they had previously met into the small space. "Have you all been here the entire night?" the rather attractive doctor scolded them sternly.

Tony smiled at the opportunity to be sarcastic. Things had been getting too serious for his liking. "No. I went out for a couple of drinks to take the edge off being shot and snuck back in while everyone was asleep."

The three people in the room that knew him rolled their eyes. Gibbs suppressed the urge to cuff him upside the head. The nurse smiled genuinely at the injured man's sense of humor and the doctor simply ignored it.

"I have to examine Mr. Dinozzo's sutures. Then, he needs to get his rest. Everyone else is to leave now." She informed them sternly.

"We were just leaving, doctor," Gibbs replied trying to maintain the illusion that he couldn't be ordered around. She gave him a look of tired frustration. It told him that she didn't want to engage in a battle of wills with him, but would if she had to. Gibbs smiled at the alluring doctor. Maybe he'd look her up later, when he wasn't so swamped with work. "Abby, Kate, Let's go."

Kate was going to object, but decided against it. She felt like an emotional and physical pile of rubble and just wanted to sleep in her own bed. With a look at Tony and a gentle squeeze of his hand she said 'goodbye', and followed Abby and Gibbs out the door.

"Well, Mr. Dinozzo," the doctor said after the bothersome man and the two women had left. "Let's take a look at those stitches."

"You can call me 'Tony'," he said with a smile as she pulled back the hospital blankets and gown enough to expose his bandaged abdomen. His smile turned into a wince as she removed the bandage and gently prodded the tender area with her gloved fingers.

"Okay, Tony," she said turning her attention to look at his face. She noticed the wince and his irregular breathing, signifying the fact that he was attempting to disguise the pain. "You're still in pain?"

"Mmph-Yes," he conceded.

"We'll get you something for that," she said with a reassuring smile. "But first we need to give you a shot of antibiotics to prevent infection."

The nurse prepared a needle and handed it to the doctor. He tried not to look at it. Needles were one of his least favorite things.

"I heard that antibiotics only last twelve months now before the bacteria become resistant," he said trying to ignore the thought of the needle piercing his flesh, as well as attempting to impress the female doctor and the pretty nurse.

"That is a growing problem," the doctor replied as she focused on injecting the antibiotic.

"You sure that you should be wasting it on me?" he asked as she removed the needle. The nurse was smiled at him again.

"My patient's health is my primary concern. That means if giving you antibiotics is going to prevent a STAPH infection, that's what I'm going to do. Let the chemists and research pharmacists worry about antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria," the doctor said flatly as she rewrapped the wound with fresh bandages. She'd never had this type of conversation with a patient before, but she wasn't going to let it show. She was known for her stoicism, and she wouldn't let this patient, or his overbearing friend, boss, colleague-whatever he was- ruin her reputation. "We'll check back in on you later. And I'll have Clarissa get you a painkiller.

Unlike the doctor, Clarissa the nurse was impressed. She smiled admiringly at Tony and he winked at her as she followed the doctor out of the room. He felt guilty for a moment and wondered why. He had never felt guilty about flirting with a pretty girl before, not even since he'd been with Kate. Although, he had never had a relationship quite like the one he had with Kate. She was different than the other women. She was important to him. But he still couldn't change who he was for her. He was a womanizer at heart, after all. He _liked_ women; all sorts of women, all shapes and sizes. But he only _loved_ one woman. Maybe he should to her that…


	7. Chapter 7

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's Note: I was away for a week so this chapter is shorter than the last ones. Plus, it doesn't seem to end...I just kind of didn'tknow where to go next.Not that I ever knew where I was going with this story.**

Kate opened the door to the apartment. The silence engulfed her. She wished that Tony could be there with her. She hated that silence. It was the silence of a hundred nights spent alone, a hundred nights without his arms wrapped around her body. She shut her eyes and tried to will away the silence. She tried to remember the nights that they had been able to spend together, his warmth, his smell, the slight snore that he never admitted to having. It worked. The silence was soon gone, and all she could here was the soft pitter-patter of her flip-flops as she walked towards the bedroom.

She stood for a moment trying to decide whether she wanted to take a shower or a nap first. For being clean, the hospital made her feel quite dirty. She wanted to take a shower, but the threat of passing out and hitting her head was high. She only made it as far as the bed before she lost all of her remaining energy anyhow.

She didn't spend long trying to get comfortable before falling into a deep sleep. She awoke several hours later, a fresh layer of sweat compounding her discomfort. She decided to take her shower next, and after struggling to get in and out of the bathtub, cursed Tony.

Adorning a fresh set of comfortable clothes, a cotton ankle-length dress that buttoned up the front, Kate set off in search of food. She rummaged through the refrigerator, wishing that they had bought more groceries each week instead of resigning themselves to the fact that they were never home during meal times. She fixed herself the best meal she could manage and sat down to eat. She must have been famished because she ate more than she thought she was capable of eating.

Something occurred to Kate while she was eating her makeshift meal. After she placed her dished in the sink, she walked to where the calendar was hanging on the wall. She double-checked the date. In the box that represented the next day, her own neat handwriting informed her that she had a doctor's appointment. Tony wouldn't be able to take her now, and she had stopped driving because of the airbags. Plus, it was difficult for her to drive when she was distracted by how uncomfortably large she was. Maybe Abby could take her. Yes, Abby wouldn't mind bringing her.

So, this was it…She had to ask a coworker to drive her to the doctor's, not that Abby wasn't also a friend. Kate wondered about when and how she had become so estranged from her family. This was a time when she should be closest to her family, when she was about to start a family of her own. Her mother, her aunts, her cousins, all her female relatives should be there to help her. They should ask her how she feels, what pains she's gotten, how many times she has to go pee during the day. They should be telling her stories about their own pregnancies, about raising children. Kate suddenly felt very alone in her empty apartment.

Why hadn't she told her mother? She had talked to her on the phone at least twice since she had found out that she was pregnant. Oh, Kate knew the reason. She was afraid of what her mother's reaction would be. Plus it was so easy not to tell her. The conversation was always the same, and she could manage to get through it without lying, nor telling the truth. Her mother always asked when she was planning on getting married; she never knew. She always asked her how work was going; fine. Then she would tell her about how the rest of the family was; how her second-cousin twice-removed just got married, it was a beautiful wedding, and now they're starting a family. She'd go on and on like that for awhile. But if Kate _called_ her, this time, it would be different.

At first, Kate couldn't decide if she should call. She paced up and down the hall until her feet her and her back screamed at her for the pressure she was putting on it. Finally, the loneliness of her current situation, as well as the need to talk to someone about her feelings convinced her to try it. She sat down on the bed with a pillow propped up behind her so the she might be only emotionally uncomfortable and not physically uncomfortable while she made her call. She picked up the receiver and dialed the number. She counted the rings, five, as she slowly breathed in and out to calm herself.

"Hey Mom. It's me, Kate."

"Not a lot. I've just been thinking and…"

"Well…" How could she put it? Her mother wouldn't remember Tony's name, and she wasn't ready to call him 'the father of my unborn child' to her mom, just yet. "…a coworker of mine got shot yesterday."

"Yes. He's going to be fine." She tried not to think about the alternative.

"It just made me think that…" She might as well say what was on her mind. That's what made her dial the number after all. "I think I love him."

"Yes, my coworker."

"Anthony Dinozzo."

"Yes. It's Italian."

"I don't know if he's Catholic. What does it matter, anyway?" It would be something that mattered to her mother.

"I'm not sure he knows."

"I don't know if he feels the same way."

"That's the thing, mom. We're _already_ together."

"Over a year. We've been living together.'

"Since I told him that I was pregnant."

"Mom, you there?"

"Six and a half months."

"I don't know why I didn't tell you."

"No. We're not getting married." _That's why._

"I don't care if my child is born out of wedlock."

"We're both committed to raising our child and that's good enough."

Tears began to trickle down Kate's cheek for what felt like the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. Why was her mom so impossible?

"Yeah. I'm still here." She zoned out for the rest of the conversation, but got the basic gist of it. Her mother wouldn't be able to act supportive unless Kate and Tony did 'the right thing' and got married. Well, she could forget that! Kate would have her baby without the support of her mother, and she and Tony would raise their child together and do it _well_ for that fact. She didn't need the support of her hard-headed family. She only needed Tony…whom she had almost lost previous night. She pushed the thought from her head. He was fine, and he was going to help her through her pregnancy and to take care of their child. Besides, she had other people, too. She had Abby, and Ducky, and sometimes McGee would help her out. And even Gibbs had cared for her welfare. She could do this. She was _going_ to do this!

"Love you, too, Mom," she said back half-heartedly before she hung up the phone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters…**

**Author's note: Apologies for the tardiness/crappiness of this chapter. I haven't been in much of a writing mood lately and I was going to hold off until I had written more before posting this…but that may be a while, so maybe this will tide some readers over until I'm not so lazy…**

Kate heaved a heavy sigh, the kind that forces every last molecule of air out of your lungs, in the hopes of expelling everything evil in the world along with it. She felt guilty about not informing her mother about her impending grandchild. But at least she told her before the baby was born. Maybe she should call her brothers and tell them, too. However, her mother would definitely tell them of their sister's "Predicament", if she wasn't already on the phone with them right that second. Kate wondered if their reactions would be as extreme and cold-hearted as her mother's. Probably not. But then again, they were overly-protective of her. They would probably think that Tony had taken advantage of her, because they all knew she was _too smart_ to get herself into such a situation. Maybe they would kill him. Maybe she would let them. Maybe she would kill him herself, slowly and painfully, just like she was suffering right now.

How _did_ she get herself into this situation, anyway? Oh, she could blame Tony. It was _easy_ to blame Tony. But the truth was that it had been just as much her fault as it was his. They had been dating for awhile, sleeping together for over a month. She had been careful not to rush into things, to do anything stupid or regrettable. She hadn't had a single alcoholic beverage on any of their dates. It hadn't been that she hadn't trusted him; it had been that she hadn't trusted herself not to screw things up. She had figured that they were safe from doing anything that they would regret, that would make things awkward between them. They had already made that certain step she feared alcohol would make them take prematurely while sober. So they had finally decided that they were comfortable enough with each other to got out drinking and have a good time. Neither of them had been surprised when they had awoken in bed together, with little to no memory of the previous night. She had assumed at the time that they had been smart enough to use protection. It hadn't been until the indicator strip turned blue that she knew she had assumed wrong. Never assume anything, Gibbs always said. Why couldn't he have been wrong just once?

The alarm clock started wailing, piercing and dissolving her thoughts with its shrill _beep beep beep. _Kate leaned over and with considerable effort managed to turn it off. She had set it so that she wouldn't sleep, causing her to suffer insomnia during the night when she would need to be sleeping. The bright red glowing numbers burned the time into her brain. She rubbed her forehead. Four O'clock. She should check on Tony.

She sighed as she realized that she would have to get up to look up the hospital's phone number. She would rather have wanted to visit him there, to see him in person, but someone would have to take her and she refused to become a burden upon anyone else more than she had already been. She forced herself to get up and walked to the kitchen where she located the phonebook under a rather large and random amount of junk in the "miscellaneous" drawer. She decided to use the phone in the kitchen for this call, in case she dialed the wrong number and needed to look it up again. No sense in making two trips. It also gave her room to pace, an action that phone conversations with Tony tended to make her undertake, probably because he usually made her frustrated or anxious. Pacing provided a way to work off her aggression without snapping at him. She took another deep calming breathe, something she had been doing rather frequently as of late, and dialed the number. She wouldn't let him frustrate her, and she _wouldn't_ have an emotional breakdown again.

A nurse or receptionist answered the phone with a forced sweet-honey voice. Kate gave her Tony's name and the room number. She wouldn't forget that number for a long time; it was etched into her memory. Two-Oh-Seven. It represented how she had nearly lost him, but also that he was alive, that she had been able to see him again. The phone rang three times-she had been counting again-before he picked up. It was his voice, a little weaker and less playful than usual, but it was still him. She swallowed back the lump that had begun to form in her throat, and scolded herself for being so emotionally erratic and stupid.

"Hey, Tony. It's me."

"I wish I could. It's just-"

"No. I _really do_ want to see you." He didn't know how much! "I just don't want to ask Gibbs or Abby to drive me over again. And it's getting late anyway, and I'm pretty sure that I'm expected back at work tomorrow and-"

She smiled to herself as he told her that he understood. He didn't hold it against her, like she had feared that he would. Sometimes, she knew exactly why she loved the man. She just didn't know how to tell him.

"Is there anything I can bring to entertain you while you're stuck in the hospital all alone?"

"No. I don't think they'll allow that." At least being shot hadn't dulled his personality any. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"Okay. If I can find it." She had no clue where the portable DVD player had gotten to. "What movies do you want?"

She couldn't help but feel like she was taking a fast food order. "Would you like fries with that?"

He laughed at the sarcastic comment, and that made her smile.

"_Godfather, White Heat, Dirty Harry, The Shining, Reservoir Dogs, Goodfellas…_Are you sure you should be watching those type of movies?"

"I mean, don't people get shot in all those films?"

"People die, though."

"Okay. The point is that they're a little on the violent side. How is that restful?"

She decided that this shouldn't turn into an argument, like almost everything between them did. Sometimes the arguments were serious, sometimes they weren't, but it seemed to remain their primary form of communication. "You know what, Tony? I'll bring you whatever you want…minus the strippers."

"Yeah. I think I can talk whoever gives me a ride to work tomorrow morning into stopping by the hospital."

"You're welcome. I'll see you then."

"I won't forget. Don't worry." How could she forget that he was lying in the hospital instead of at home taking care of her!

"Bye." She pressed the button to hang up the phone.

Kate pulled out the kitchen chair and sat down. Her feet were beginning to hurt, an intense stinging sensation on the souls of her feet whenever they hit the floor and received the pressure of her overburdened body. It felt like the bottom of her feet had managed to become sunburned somehow. She closed her eyes and took a minute to clear her head. How could phone conversations be so taxing? And she wasn't done yet. At least the last one should prove much easier. She picked up the phone receiver for what she hoped would be the final time that night, and dialed Abby's number.

Seven rings, no surprise there. Abby had a tendency not to pick up the phone very expeditiously. It was either that she couldn't hear it because of her loud blaring music, or because the ringing was muffled by the coffin she probably slept in. This time, it was because she had just gotten back from work, she explained and apologized to Kate with her grainy voice as she picked up the phone. Not too late then, Kate thought. It was only five-thirty. Gibbs must have been in a good mood.

"Hey Abby. How'd you know it was me?"

"Clairvoyance? That's new. I was wondering if-"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"He's acting his usual jackass self, so yeah, I think he's fine. I had a favor to ask you, actually two. One's for Tony, one's for me."

"Tony wants some things from home-"

"Yes, movies. He's so predictable. So I was wondering if maybe-"

"Thank you. I'll tell him that he owes you one."

"I have a doctor's appointment at 3 O'clock tomorrow and I thought that maybe you could take me?" Kate got the whole sentence out that time. That wasn't a good sign.

"No. It's okay, Abby. I'll figure it out."

"No. I don't want Gibbs to be angry with you, too. He _has_ to like at least one of us."

"Thanks, Abby. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Bye."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters…**

**Author's note: I was going to hold off until I had more before posting, but alas I have become lazy again…It yet again, ain't the greatest chapter, but neither is this story. I think that if I actually get back to working on this, it should be wrapped up quite soon…maybe.**

Kate leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. It provided a welcome, however brief reprieve from the strain on her back. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair before returning her attention to the paperwork Gibbs had her going over. It had been a rough morning, and she still hadn't found someone to drive her to her doctor's appointment. She hadn't told Tony about the appointment because she knew it would upset him that he wouldn't be there to take her.

It had been hard visiting him that morning, dropping off his things without exploding into an emotional mess. She had wanted to tell him things, deeply personal things, emotional things, sappy things that she had never thought that she'd ever want to say to anyone. But Abby was there and she hadn't felt like it was the time or the place to get into it. She had asked him how he was doing. They had smiled at each other, held their hands clasped together briefly. He had caressed her stomach, asked how 'they' were. Neither had felt like picking on the other in their usual fashion. There was something strange hanging between them. She didn't have the time to figure it out then, and she was too uncomfortable to think about it no, especially with the developing headache.

Tony must have had been getting antsy stuck in the hospital, as she knew he would, because he had called her three times already since she had gotten to the office. He had nothing in particular to say, and she had work that Gibbs expected to be done, so she had been curt with him. Maybe that's why she felt bad. There was something else nagging at the back of her mind, separate from the hundreds of other concerns she currently had, which she just couldn't put her finger on. But she didn't have time for ethereal concerns at the moment. She needed to focus on things like her work, and how she was going to get to the doctor's office.

Kate shifted uncomfortably in her chair again as she tried to focus on the information contained on the paper in her hand. A stinging sensation in her back caused her to jump slightly then utter a pained 'Ow!' and winced as she attempted to massage the angry muscle with her free hand. She looked up to notice Agent McGee staring at her from behind his computer. He quickly ducked away, pretending to be working when they made eye contact.

A thought occurred to Kate. Why hadn't she thought of asking McGee before? He was a nice guy, would probably be willing to help her out. Wait, she remembered why she hadn't wanted to ask him. She hadn't wanted to drag more people into the ordeal; she still didn't. Plus, it would probably piss Tony off if she told him that McGee had been able to take her to her appointment when he hadn't. Sure, Tony would act fine on the surface, maybe crack a joke, but he would feel hurt and jealous on the inside. He liked McGee, but he also resented him, and felt threatened by him. But at this point, Kate had really stopped caring. She decided to deal with the immediate issues, and let Tony sort out his ego later.

"Hey! McGee!" she called to the agent sitting at his desk from across the room. "Come here for a second."

He looked at her bewilderedly until she motioned him over and he got up to approach her desk apprehensively. She knew that id she wanted to ask a favor of someone, the best tactic would be to go to them and behave as amiably as possible. But she was tired, in pain, and very pregnant, as well as generally sick of life. People would have to start bending to her needs a little more.

"W-what is it, Kate?" McGee asked. He always seemed nervous about something. The way he was looking at her now made her think that he believed she was about to go into labor or throw something at him. She wasn't in the mood to placate his troubled mind. It was hard enough to concentrate on sounding pleasant, or even civil.

"I have a huge favor to ask of you, McGee-Tim," she tried using his first name to signify that it was not work-related. It only served to make him appear more pensive. Deciding best not to drag it out, She continued. "I have a doctor's appointment at 3 O'clock today, and I have no way to get there."

She tried smiling, but was only able to wince. McGee seemed to understand her predicament despite the bizarre expression she gave him. "And you're wondering if I could take you?"

Kate nodded her head in confirmation, feeling like she was pulling teeth. Why did her life have to be so difficult lately?

"I'd be happy to, Kate," McGee said, putting an end to one of Kate's many problems. "Provided that it's okay with Gibbs…"

"That what's okay with me?" came the voice of their boss, and what they had both known would be the major issue with Kate's request. She jumped slightly in her chair. She had gotten used to the way he snuck up on people, but the distractions of her pregnancy woes had made her less wary as of late.

"Since Tony's in the hospital and Abby's so busy with work, McGee offered to help me out by taking me to my doctor's appointment this afternoon," Kate explained.

"That was nice of him," Gibbs said matter-of-factly, then took a sip from his coffee. He proceeded to walk to his desk and thumb through a stack of papers. "Where are the financials on Corporal Martin?"

"Right here, Gibbs," Kate said, rising unsteadily to her feet and brandishing a folder. "I've already gone through them…like you asked me to." Just because she was pregnant didn't mean she couldn't still help out on the cases! "Guess who cosigned all of his loans and has been making his car payments for the last five months."

"I don't know, Kate," Gibbs snapped. He hated it when they played games with the information that he wanted. "His _girlfriend_!"

"Nope," Kate answered back, cheerful over the fact that Gibbs guessed wrong despite the glare she was receiving. Normally, it wouldn't have mattered to her, but she was in a bad mood, and the small glory made her feel better. However, she still had enough sense to reveal the true answer before Gibbs really snapped at her. "It's his mother."

Gibbs seemed to brighten over the information revealed to him. "A momma's boy, eh? And we all know where momma's boys run to when they're in trouble."

"Home to mother?" McGee said, just catching on to what Kate and Gibbs had already concluded.

"Yup," Gibbs confirmed, too pleased that the suspect was in his sights to scold McGee for stating the obvious. "Address, Kate?"

"It's right here, Gibbs," Kate said, pointing it out on one of the numerous financial records that she had poured through that morning.

"McGee, you're with me," Gibbs ordered as he holstered his weapon and grabbed his coffee. He then headed towards the door. McGee grabbed his gear and gave an apologetic look as he followed the older man.

"Gibbs, you're going now?" Kate asked, quickly growing concerned.

"Uh-yeah!" Gibbs said more than slightly sarcastically then added more seriously, "You _do_ want to get the guy who shot Tony, _don't_ you, Kate?"

"Yes. Of course," Kate replied to her boss who had stopped halfway to the elevator to stare at her with scrutiny. "It's just that it's over an hour's drive each way and it's already after noon."

Gibbs turned to head toward the elevator again, and shouted back his response to Kate as he entered it. "Don't worry. I'll have McGee back in plenty of time to take you to your appointment!"

Kate sighed and sat back down in her chair at her desk. She knew Gibbs was as good as his word, but she also knew how he got when he was chasing down a suspect, especially one he had a personal vendetta against.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters…**

**Author's Note: I feel like I'm so close to being done, but I don't know when I'll write again, so I decided to post this now. Sorry for leaving you hanging…**

Deciding that she couldn't do anything about the situation except wait, Kate turned to the pile of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk. Ever since her fellow agents had realized that she had gained spare time while being off field duty, they had begun adding various forms they wished to avoid to her own stack of incomplete paperwork. If she had known investigative work, as well as law enforcement in general, entailed so much paperwork, maybe she wouldn't have taken on the job. She would rather be shot at any day. Well, now that she was going to be a mother, going to be responsible for another human being, maybe getting shot at wasn't such a good career choice. Paperwork was safer, although only after you factored out the desire to attempt suicide with a letter opener, pen, stapler or whatever else was handy.

So Kate filled out forms until her eyes hurt, her head throbbed, her hand cramped, and her back ached. She threw the pen down on her desk and slowly managed to get herself up out of her chair onto her feet, which immediately cursed her for not owning more comfortable shoes that she could wear to work. Maybe she'd give up and wear her flip-flops tomorrow. The realization that she had to pee and had been holding it for the past half hour caused her to overcome her discomfort and walk rather swiftly albeit awkwardly towards the Ladies' Room.

Kate made a discovery in the bathroom that she _really_ didn't want. She was bleeding. She hadn't been imagining those few tiny drops of blood in her underwear that morning. Her mind had dismissed it, had pushed it far into the recesses of her thoughts. She had had so many more pressing things to worry about. But she couldn't deny it now. She _was_ bleeding. What could she do? Was she miscarrying?

Kate started finding it more and more difficult to breath as panic engulfed her. She couldn't handle this, not with everything else she had been going through over the past few days. She tried to tell herself to remain calm. Becoming hysterical wouldn't help her at all. She swallowed back the lump that had formed in her throat and focused on the task at hand. She needed to clear her mind to calm herself. She tried to only think about washing her hands. It worked. Her mind emptied as she stared absently engrossed upon the swirls of soap suds covering her skin. She rinsed them off, and then splashed her face with water.

She breathed deeply and let her mind approach the problem that threatened to become her breaking point. If she could only think about it logically, she could probably resolve the issue, or at least figure out a prudent course of action. When was the last time she had felt the baby move? She couldn't remember. She had to take another deep breathe and closed her eyes forcing it out slowly and her anxiety with it. There weren't a lot of options that she had to consider. She could go to the hospital. Or she could wait until her doctor's appointment, which was less than two hours away the last time she checked the clock. The wait at a hospital could easily take that long anyway. If only there was a way that she could get peace of mind that her baby was fine right then.

"Of course!" she cursed herself for not thinking of it right away. She could ask Ducky to check her out. He _was _a doctor, after all. Another fact surfaced in her attention, rescinding the former. She couldn't go to Ducky for immediate reassurance that everything was fine. He wasn't at headquarters that day. He was off giving advice to one of those body farms for forensic training. She continued to fight back the growing sense of panic as she tried to think about her other options.

Everyone that she'd go to for assistance was gone. Tony was stuck in the hospital, McGee and Gibbs were off hunting down that man who had put him there, and Ducky was giving advice to some of his colleagues. The only team member that she hadn't accounted for was…

"Abby!" Kate said, announcing her absent-mindedness aloud. This time she did not resist the urge to smack herself in the forehead for her stupidity. Abby would be just the person Kate should go to at a time like this. Not only would the amiable lab tech be able to give her sound advice, she was almost guaranteed to provide a reassuring word. Kate breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't resolved the situation yet, but she now had a solid plan of action.

"Abby, could you help me with something?"

"Sure," the Goth in a white lab coat replied from in front of a computer screen. She turned to face her friend and co-worker.

"What's wrong, Kate?" she asked noticing the distraught woman's face. The look only seemed to deepen at the question she had posed; a reminder to her that everything was wrong at the moment. Abby guided Kate to her comfy swivel chair that she hardly seemed to use. "Take a seat. Tell me about it."

'I'm bleeding, Abby," Kate told her urgently. It came out lightly, as though it strained her voice to say anything at all. Abby failed to understand.

"Do you want a band-aid?" she asked Kate, slightly perplexed. It made Kate smile ironically. When she had been little, she had thought that a band-aid could make anything and everything better. She had even tried using them to mend one of her mother's vases that she had broken. If only it were that simple.

"I don't think a band-aid is going to help," Kate said fighting back tears at having to face the reality of what might be happening to her. She held onto the idea that she did not know, one way or the other, whether she was miscarrying. "I think I'm losing the baby."

Abby froze in place for a moment as she processed the information she had just been confronted with. She wondered how this could happen to Kate;_ so much bad in such a little time_. Maybe her friend was overreacting. Looking at the sorrow in her friend's face startled her out of that hope. Kate really believed it.

"I don't know if I should go to the hospital or just wait for my doctor's appointment," Kate continued describing her dilemma as she waited for Abby to catch up with reality. "It's only a little over an hour from now."

"That may be too long, Kate," Abby said, finally snapping back into the world, determined to help her troubled friend. "Time can make a difference with these things."

"If only I knew whether the baby was still okay," Kate lamented her situation.

I know!" Abby said as she shot across the room and began opening and digging through cupboards and drawers.


	11. Chapter 11

**diclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's Note: I was going to combine the next few chapters into one, but they work better seperately. That's my excuse for how long it took me to post this. I have no exucse nor guarantee as to the quality of this entry...**

Having found what she was looking for amongst the various instrument-filled drawers, Abby ran excitedly back to where her stricken friend sat. Kate gave her a curious look. She couldn't imagine what kind of magical item Abby had pulled from one of those drawers that would relieve her concern. Abby revealed the item to her friend, a grin spreading across her face.

"A Stethoscope?" Kate asked, consternation overwhelming her pained expression. Abby may have been smart and science adept, but she was no doctor. "Why do you have one of those lying around?"

"Didn't you ever play doctor, Kate?" Abby responded as perky as ever. She put the two ends of the stethoscope in her ears and held up the drum. "Lift up your shirt, please," she ordered in what Kate assumed to be her pseudo-doctor's voice.

Kate fulfilled the request and exposed her large belly to the stethoscope-wielding pretend doctor. Abby's light and perky manner had almost caused Kate to forget her troubles. The cold steel of the stethoscope against her skin, however, brought them sharply back to her attention. "Do you hear anything?" she asked urgently.

"Shh!" Abby silenced her as she concentrated on listening to the inner-workings of Kate's body. She moved the cold steel around Kate's belly. She paused. "I can hear your heartbeat-"

"What about the baby?" Kate asked, her voice cracking with distress.

"Shh!" Abby demanded again. She paused straining to hear something she wasn't sure that she'd recognize. A few moments passed, agonizingly long for Kate. "I hear something…the heartbeat! I hear it! _Wow!_"

"Really!" Kate asked, excited as well as relieved. "Can I listen?"

"Sure," Abby responded, handing over the stethoscope to her friend, still the mother-to-be, she hoped. She watched as Kate excitedly moved the device over her stomach, a look of concentration upon her glowing face. "Did you find it?"

"I don't know," Kate replied, still moving it slowly across her skin and listening hard. "Wait! There it is! I hear it. I hear my baby!"

Abby smiled at her friend's delight.

"My baby's okay," she told her happily. She took the stethoscope off and tenderly caressed her belly. It didn't explain the bleeding, though. Kate informed Abby of her confusion.

"What I really want to know is why you're so large," Abby responded, deciding that it was better not to dwell on the worrisome point since they had verified that the unborn child's heart was still beating. Maybe Kate was farther along than she had thought, and was actually going in to labor. "How far along are you?"

"Twenty-seven weeks," Kate answered her friend's question with scrutiny. Everyone always assumed that she was much farther along. When she told them she wasn't, they then assumed that she was carrying twins. "_Why?_"

"Uh--no reason," Abby replied to the glare she was receiving. She knew that she shouldn't go there, and Kate knew that she was headed there, but Abby took the jump to the next conclusion anyway. "Are you _sure_ you're not having twins?"

"Yes!" Kate snapped. The truth was that she often questioned it herself, but never dreamed of voicing it aloud to anybody.

"Are you _positive_?" Abby reiterated, unable to get around Kate's size. Kate hesitated on that one. She may have been _sure_ that she wasn't having twins, but she was nowhere near _positive_. The doubt kept growing in her mind.

"No," she admitted. But she quickly added, "Don't you _dare_ suggest it to Tony. He doesn't need that kind of ego boost at all!"

She knew the results it'd have on him. Not only did he manage to get her pregnant with one try, but _twins_. She really wouldn't be able to live with him then. She'd have to kill him. Besides, the thought of chasing after two little Dinozzos made her want to cry. "No. Can't happen. Not twins," Kate decided. "The doctor would have said something last time anyway."

"Of course," Abby said patronizingly. She still had her suspicions. Doctors were often wrong about this sort of thing. Sonograms aren't always the easiest graphics to decipher. But Kate was the one who was actually pregnant. She'd probably have the best idea of what was going on within her own body.

"Oh!" Kate said, slightly startled. Her hand went to her belly and she smiled as Abby gave her a curious look. "The baby's kicking."

Abby's eyes lit up to match Kate's own excitement. "Can I-"

"Sure. Go ahead," Kate gave her permission. Abby laid her hand gently upon the smooth exposed skin of Kate's pregnant belly. She felt movement from within Kate's womb. Excitedly, Abby crouched down and put her head next to the protruding stomach of the pregnant woman so that her ear was pressed against the warm flesh. Kate giggled as Abby's pigtail tickled her skin.

"Abby, have you seen…" McGee asked as he entered the lab, and then trailed off as he encountered the bizarre situation in front of him. He stopped in his tracks and gave the two women a puzzled look that revealed his curiosity over the situation, but also his uncertainty over wanting an explanation.

Abby and Kate looked at him and then each other before bursting out laughing. It _was_ a rather odd picture when you thought about it. Abby with her head against Kate's bare stomach, the stethoscope still hanging around her neck, while Kate giggled from being tickled by Abby's pigtail.

"What are you doing?" McGee asked, not really wanting to know, nor expecting any answer. He shook his head as Abby took the stethoscope from Kate and returned it to its place. Kate reclaiming her modesty pulled her shirt back down to cover her large mid-riff.

"You know what? I don't want to know," He said, excepting that they weren't about to explain it to him anyway. "Are you ready to go, Kate?"

"Yeah," she replied. If Gibbs had released Tim to bring her to her docotor's appointment, it could only mean one of two things. Either they had caught the suspect and Gibbs was in an incredibly good mood, or they had failed to track down the man that had tried to kill Tony and Gibbs was too angry to demand that they all work harder. Kate prayed that it was the former. "I take it that you caught the bastard?"

"Yes," McGee confirmed. "In fact, Gibbs has him in interrogation right now."

"Without any back-up?" Kate asked. He usually had at least one of them present to observe and to confirm information or follow up any leads that he produced.

"He said that I should take you to your appointment," McGee supplied.

"That was nice of Gibbs," Abby said admiringly of their boss. Both Kate and McGee shifted uneasily. They felt uncomfortable when Gibbs made kind gestures towards them. It was much easier to think of him as their tough ex-marine boss than an understanding, generous man; not that they thought of him as unfair. In fact, he was quite skilled at dispensing justice, just not favors. But it wasn't like Kate wouldn't take what she could get.

"Let's go before it's too late," she told McGee, unsure of whether she meant that she would be late for her appointment or that she feared Gibbs would revoke the favor. McGee helped her out of Abby's swivel chair by offering his arm to her. She thanked him for his assistance, with everything.

Kate couldn't help but feel guilty as they left the building. She felt like she wasn't doing her job. A large part of her wanted to be there for Gibbs' interrogation of the suspect. She tried to pawn it off as a sense of duty, but she really wanted to be witness to the event for personal reasons. She wanted to see the man who so callously was able to shoot another man. A man who could, and had, killed another human being without a second thought to who that person was and how many lives he'd ruin by pulling the trigger. She wanted to know if you could see the pure evil on his face, or whether it was deeply buried, or the even more frightening thought that he looked perfectly normal, that he _was_ like everybody else. But she didn't have the time nor the right to satisfy her own personal desires anymore. She was going to be a mother. Her baby was her primary concern now.

So Kate left the building where achieving justice for Tony was imminent, and focused instead on tending to her unborn child's needs.


	12. Chapter 12

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's note: This chapter may not further the plot ('what plot?' is what you're asking yourself right now) whatsoever but it was fun to write anyway...**

McGee sat in the waiting room of the OBGYN office, flipping through magazines. Kate had already been called in to see the doctor and he was desperately trying not to make eye-contact with the plethora of pregnant women scattered about the room. He retained what he felt was a justifiable fear of the hormonal females. The last thing that he wanted was for some strange woman to bite his head off for 'giving her a weird look.'

He shifted uneasily and scanned the room quickly before returning his attention to the magazine. All the women seemed to exude an aura of angry discomfort at being detained in the stuffy box of a room. He could practically feel the hormones accumulating in the stagnant air. He tried not to think about how he could piss off any one of the impregnated patients just by being the nearest man around.

The magazine left him no relief. He had read women's magazines before, thinking that if he could understand their needs and emotions, he would make a better potential mate. However, there were certain things that he had never wanted to know about women. He found most of those things in the pages of the waiting room's magazines. Confronted by an especially disturbing feminine factoid in fancy font and glossy photography, McGee decided to retreat. He hastily closed the magazine and set it on the coffee table as far away as possible from him, in case it decided to mount another assault on his delicate sensibilities.

Unfortunately for him, the lady sitting beside him took this as a signal that he would like to converse with her. She was a plump woman, and the beginnings of laugh lines upon her face led him to believe that she was in her early forties. He was happy to realize as she leaned in to talk to him that she was not in as bad a mood as most of the other women in the waiting room seemed to be. In fact she was the kind of person who radiated joviality, the kind that threatened to smother you with it.

"Hi, I'm Martha White," she introduced herself to him in a much louder voice than necessary to reach Tim's ears. Within the next twenty excruciating minutes, he learned that she was in fact forty-three (he congratulated himself on his astute observational skills), and pregnant with her fifth child. He also was acquainted with the less idealized aspects of child birth and rearing.

Martha finally seemed to wind down, and he sighed in relief, thinking that their conversation was over and that he could turn his attention to less disturbing thoughts, such as what color, exactly, was the wall of the waiting room painted; he was leaning toward eggshell. However, he had forgotten the cardinal rule of small talk, and socialization in general…The conversation always has to cover both participants, especially upon the first meeting of two individuals. And realizing that McGee was unaware of that particular rule, Martha decided to help him out.

"Your wife is very pretty," she told him, trying to shift the conversation into his domain. "I'm sure your child will be absolutely beautiful."

"What?" McGee responded as he tried to process what was said to him. "Oh! Uh-Kate's not my wife."

Martha gave him a slight disapproving look, but being as understanding and forgiving as her Christian upbringing allowed her to be, she continued attempting to converse with the young man. "Your girlfriend, then. She is quite attractive with those big eyes of hers and gorgeous hair."

"Uh-She's not my girlfriend, either," McGee supplied, becoming embarrassed at her confusion over the rather complex situation. He attempted to enlighten her. "She's my coworker, actually."

"A little office fling gone awry, eh?" the presumptuous plump woman winked at him knowingly.

"It-it's not like that!" he responded quickly, becoming afraid that Kate would show up and kick his ass at any minute. Further thought caused him to digress into a perplexingly contradictory statement. "Well, it _is_ like that…just-just not with me."

Martha gave him a look of utter consternation, so he continued trying to explain. "I'm not the father, another coworker of mine is…uh-that sounds bad. Kate's really not like that. It's just that she's in a relationship with Tony-my other coworker-if you could call it that. I don't really understand it. They're always at each other's throats. I don't know how they manage to live together…I mean the other day, they argued over whose stapler was whose for three hours and they didn't get a thing done. It was just lucky that Gibbs wasn't around because…"

He let himself trail off as the look on Martha's face clearly informed him that he had been rambling. He got to the point instead. "Kate didn't have a way to get to her appointment today, so I helped her out."

"How sweet of you," Martha said to him, a blank and stunned look upon her face. She had come to the conclusion that he was incapable of carrying on a normal conversation. He was relieved to spend the rest of the wait in silence, even if it was an uncomfortable one.

When Kate finally returned to the waiting room, he could tell from the look upon her face that things could have gone better. She didn't look pissed as much as miserable. He had seen her angry before, and this was not Kate being angry. But he could also tell that things could easily degenerate into Kate being _violently_ angry. He quickly got up and offered her coat to her. There was no 'thank you' given in response, only confirming his diagnosis of the woman's mood.

"How'd it go?" he risked asking in the hopes that geniality would sway her from her mood. He opened the door for her and she briskly passed through it and headed for the car. He rushed to keep up with her, probing further. "Well?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Tim," she informed him with a calm yet gruff voice. She opened the car door and got in, pulling it shut behind her, all without making eye-contact with him. Her behavior was really starting to worry him. He got in the driver's side and closing the door, turned to face her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, deeply concerned over her welfare. He hadn't known Kate to act so coldly to anybody; not even Tony, and not even in her worst moods.

"I'm fine," she said, still cold and distant, even a little cranky. "Can we go now?"

Tim tried to read her and failing, relented. "Sure Kate. If that's what you want, we'll head back now."

She nodded her head and he started the car.

**A/N: Sorry...no revelations in this post...maybe next time ;-)**


	13. Chapter 13

**disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...**

**Author's note: Ummm...forgot what I was going to say. I think there will be two more chapters and then it will be finished. WOO!**

"Has Abby left yet?" Kate asked the world in general as she dropped her bag on a chair in her work area, and sighed pointedly. McGee continued past to his own desk, where he plopped down and began attacking an unfinished pile of paperwork.

"Nope," Gibbs replied from where he was sitting at his desk. He never looked up from what he was doing. "She's got a lot of work to do."

He took off his glasses, closed a file and got up, putting on his jacket. Kate gave him a bewildered look. "I'll take you home, Kate."

"Uh-Gibbs, I live in the opposite direction," she told him as the car sped around a corner. She had an idea where he was headed, but she figured better safe than sorry; he'd be really pissed if she hadn't pointed it out at all and they wasted a bunch of time being lost.

"_I know that, Kate_," he snipped at her. He hated when they pointed out the obvious, especially when they did so because they thought he was senile. "I have unfinished business with Tony."

Kate finally felt sorry for the man, if only for a few seconds. Those were ominous sounding words, not to mention the fact that they were uttered by Gibbs. She could guess as what incited such a vendetta in Gibbs. Tony must have gotten bored again, and without Kate being available, called Gibbs. Once would have annoyed Gibbs, but not to this extent. Tony must have placed multiple phone calls. Kate laughed to herself at the predicament Tony had gotten himself into.

"What are you smiling at, Todd," Gibbs asked noticing the cheerful shift of his female agent's demeanor. He hadn't seen her this happy in days.

"Tony called you, didn't he?" she managed to squeak out before laughing. Gibbs responded by silently smirking to himself and stepping on the gas pedal.

"You didn't have to take those turns so quickly," Kate told Gibbs as he helped her out of the backseat of the car. She steadied herself with a hand on his forearm. She rubbed her large stomach with her free hand. "I think I'm going to hurl," she informed him, once again in a sober mood and quickly becoming miserable. She sighed. "Today just isn't my day."

_Uh-Oh_, Tony thought to himself as he saw Gibbs enter the hospital room behind Kate. "Uh-Hey boss! What's up?"

"You get released tomorrow, is that correct?" he asked the infirmed now frightened man in an even voice. Tony reluctantly nodded his head, regretting ever having dialed that number. Maybe he shouldn't have picked up the phone and pressed the redial button half-an-hour later either. He couldn't take it back now. Gibbs continued to inform his agent how things were going to be. "Good. And since you felt well enough to call and interrupt me from _my_ work, you'll be happy to come in bright and early Monday morning and get back to work."

"Yes, boss," Tony said, crestfallen. Gibbs would have been happy to give him more time off. He even felt that Tony needed it to recover. But he knew the man had already started to go crazy from idleness. Tony had called and interrupted him, after all. And if that wasn't a cry for help, Gibbs didn't know what was.

His attention was turned to where Tony's had already wandered, to Kate as she approached his bedside. Gibbs didn't want to encroach on their time together. He could tell they had stopped being his agents and started being partners in a much more intimate relationship, one he didn't have the right to eavesdrop on. He turned around and left the pair some privacy as he decided to hunt down some coffee and perhaps that attractive doctor.

How's it going, Kate?" Tony asked with a big stupid grin spread across his face. He could tell that she wasn't happy, but he hoped it wasn't his fault. He quickly discovered that it was. At least, she thought that it was.

"'How's it going?' Is that what you're asking me?" she snapped at him. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to vent and pray that he'd be able to deal with it and forgive her for it later. "I'll tell you "how it's going'! I had a doctor's appointment today, for your information, not that you would've remembered anyway."

Tony had sincerely forgotten, and genuinely felt bad over it. He had promised to be there for her, and he had already begun to fail her even before their child was born. He gave her a pathetic look, knowing that "I'm sorry" wouldn't quite cut it.

"So I had no way to get there," Kate continued. "But McGee was kind enough to oblige-"

"McGee!" Tony said, shocked and slightly offended. But he told himself that it wasn't like _he_ had turned Kate down or she had gone to someone else before him. He really couldn't have taken her himself either.

"_Yes, McGee_," Kate reiterated, still on her rant, and not liking being interrupted. "And guess what I had to have done at the doctor's office!"

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it realizing that Kate hadn't meant for him to answer. Instead she continued on. "I had to have twelve stitches put in my cervix!"

"Your _cervix_?" Tony asked, trying to comprehend the revelation being thrust upon him. "Isn't that way up in there?"

"Yes, Tony. 'It's way up in there,'" she said sarcastically. He made a winced face at her and mouthed the words "oww!"

"Do you know why I had to have twelve stitches in my cervix?" she asked him. Again he opened and closed his mouth without saying anything. "I'll tell you why. I had to have my womb closed so your ginormous offspring won't fall out of me and rip all of my insides out with it!"

Tony shifted uncomfortably as a mental picture of what she had described to him formed in his mind. He may have been shot, and that hurt quite a bit, but what Kate had just described to him sounded at least ten times worse. He was beginning to feel really bad for the poor woman, the woman he had accidentally gotten pregnant placing her in such a difficult situation.

"If I wasn't so tired, and it wasn't impossible for me to do, I would climb up there…," Kate said to him, indicating the hospital bed he had been confined to for the better part of a week. "…and I would suffocate you to death with my huge belly!"

Tony laughed and shook his head at her realizing that she was done her rant and back to harassing him in a playful manner over their impending child.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked with mock anger as she began to lean in closer to him. "You have a weakness now…"

"…And I know how to hurt you…" she said poking him gently in the abdomen near where the bullet had been removed. "…to get what I want."

She leaned in the rest of the way until their lips met. Tony placed a hand behind her neck pulling her deeper into the kiss. It felt so good to taste her lips again, to feel her warmth, and smell her sweet scent. She tried to break the kiss off as she began to stand upright once again. But he leaned forward with her movement and continued to place smaller kisses on her lips, until he could lean forward no further without causing himself physical pain and was forced to let her go. He licked his lips as he lay back in bed. God, he missed her! Kate breathed out rhythmically, trying to slow her breathing and heart rate back to normal.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled her and she turned around to find that Gibbs had returned, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. She didn't know whether he had seen their display of affection or not, but she flushed with embarrassment nonetheless.

"I think it's time we go, Kate," Gibbs said. She didn't really want to leave Tony, especially after that kiss, but she tried not to let it show. However, Gibbs picked up on it anyway. "We'll some back tomorrow to take him home, so he can get some rest-you both can-and come in refreshed on Monday and finally get some work done!"

And with that, Kate left Tony to go home. Once again they would sleep alone, separate from the comfort they provided one another, a comfort they had both grown accustomed to and desperately longed to experience again.

**A/N: I'm not exactly sure how the medical procedure mentioned here works butI know that something similar exists. My aunt had to have her womb closed for her second child because her first was born two months early. Just thought I'd share how I thought up something this bizarre sounding...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters…**

**Author's Note: It's been awhile…sorry. I've been quite busy. I should have the last chapter up within a few days, though. (If I get around to actually writing it) And as always, the quality of this post is not guaranteed.**

Kate shifted uncomfortably, and rolled onto her side, her back to her sleeping lover. She hurt. Her whole body hurt. She was even finding it difficult to decide which part of her hurt the most. It was impossible for her to sleep at all. Her head pounded, her back ached, her feet burned, and the rest of her body throbbed in dull pain. She felt a strong arm snake around her large midriff as Tony snuggled close to her, not as asleep as she had thought he was. The comfort it provided her was immense and caused her to forget her discomfort, if only briefly.

She reveled in his touch, his smell, the feeling of his hot breath tickling the back of her neck. It had been a trying week for her, probably the worst in her life, but now that Tony was home with her, holding her close, everything seemed alright, better than alright.

Then why was there this feeling welling up deep inside her, threatening to flood over her and sweep her into a tumultuous emotional state? She tried to ignore it, but just like her physical pain, it refused to leave her unmolested. A knot formed in her throat, another deep in the pit of her stomach, and Kate could feel the tears begin to pool stinging her eyes. As the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks, she knew why she was crying.

However, Kate didn't feel that it was an appropriate time to discuss it with Tony. He had just gotten home that day, and probably was suffering as much pain as she was, if not more. She wanted to let him rest, so she fought the urge to sob uncontrollably, resigning herself to let the tears flow silently upon their path across her tender skin.

Kate's decision to let Tony sleep did not go unchecked. She may have called him insensitive on numerous occasions, but how could he not realize that the woman laying beside him, the woman he loved, was suffering? She felt him move away from her, hoping that he only had rolled over in his sleep. The light blinked on from his side of the bed, confirming that he was awake.

"Kate, what's wrong?" he spoke softly, concern in his voice. She didn't move. Maybe he'd give up, go back to sleep, and let her be. She didn't want him to see her tear-streaked face. She felt his hand settle upon her arm, strong and comforting. It only made the tears flow more freely, drowning her features with a saline moisture that burned her skin. "You're crying, Kate. Please tell me why."

He sounded so worried, so serious. She had to turn and face him. He was already sitting up and she moved to do the same so that she could wrap her arms around him, and be enveloped in a snug warm embrace.

He didn't know what was wrong with her, but Tony knew that she needed comforting, and then maybe she'd tell him what was going on. He held her tightly, and gently kissed the side of her face as tears bathed his shoulder. Her skin was hot against his lips and tasted salty from the tears she shed. He didn't know what was troubling her, and Kate had made no effort to reveal it to him, so he could only hold her close in the hope that he provided her some solace.

Finally, after the tears had ceased to flow, Kate pulled away from Tony in order to look into his face. The light that the small lamp provided was minimal, and his face was mostly in shadow, but Kate could make out his troubled expression. After the display she had just put on, she couldn't back out now. She had to tell him and pray that he wouldn't think her as silly as she felt.

"I feel so stupid, Tony," she began. "I could probably blame it on the hormones, but I know it's not that."

Kate looked into his eyes, and finding mainly consternation, took a deep breath. She had to do it. She had to tell him no matter how embarrassed and vulnerable the truth made her feel.

"I was crying because I just felt overwhelmed. I was thinking about how I almost lost you." She paused to swallow back the lump in her throat. "The thought of never seeing you again was terrifying. And now that I think about it, I don't know if I could ever bear being separated from you again."

She paused and tried to read his thoughts through his facial expression. She couldn't tell if he had understood what she had revealed to him. She figured that she might as well say it plain and simply. "I love you, Tony."

Kate's insides tensed as she stared pensively at his poorly lit face, waiting for a response. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind; doubt, worry relief that she had finally just said it.

"I have something to tell you," he said. He wanted to tell her that he felt the same, but he knew Kate, knew that it would take more than saying it to convince her of its veracity. He'd have to prove it, explain it, just as she had to him.

"You remember the hot nurse, right?" he asked, hoping that she would stick with him long enough to allow him to make his point.

Kate only nodded her head, dreading that he was about to reject her, calculating the likelihood that he had cheated on her. She loved him, and even if he didn't love her, she at least presumed that he respected her enough not to do that to her.

"Well, when I was flirting with her-don't look at me that way, you know how I am, Kate. And you know I'd never do anything more than flirt with another woman," he attempted to explain. "Actually, that's my entire point. I felt guilty about it, Kate! Me, guilty, over flirting with a pretty girl! And I realized why. I don't care about other women anymore. I only care about you."

He paused to look directly into her eyes, to be sure that she could see the sincerity and honesty behind what he said next. "I love you, Kate."

She didn't know she could feel this way. It was just three little words. But hearing him say them to her, and meaning it, had filled her with a joy that she had never experienced before. She wrapped her arms around him, as he once again pulled her into a close embrace. Her body filled with warmth and her pain subsided until it plagued her no more, as he placed tender kisses on her cheek, neck and shoulder.

Kate pulled away from him enough so that their lips could meet in a passionate expression of their affection. He broke off the kiss, and Kate felt herself overcome with fatigue. She laid back down on her side, this time with her back to the outside. And after reaching over to turn off the light, Tony joined her, he too lying on his side in order to face her. He took her hand in his, and kissing it lovingly, wished her sweet dreams, before drifting off to sleep. She smiled to herself as she too fell asleep. That night they both had the best night's sleep in a long while.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters…**

**Author's note: Apologies for taking forever! I was gone, then busy, then lazy…mostly lazy. So there is an awful lot of unintentional build up of suspense and your expectations are probably insanely high for this final chapter. So I must therefore also apologize in advance for its deficiencies and overall not impressiveness. However, I am finally done and I hope this gives any of you waiting for this last installment some closure. If I have failed to do so, you could try to hunt me down and kill me, but you don't know who I am or where I live so you will just have to stew in your own hatred. That being said…enjoy.**

"Congratulations, Miss Todd," the doctor said as he gently placed the bundle into Kate's eager outstretched arms. "You have a very healthy son."

She held the newborn child close to her breast, cradling him gently. She ran her finger tenderly over the petite features of his face. Then unswaddling him slightly, she performed the examination that so many other new mothers had performed before her. She checked to make sure that he had all his fingers and toes, and that all the right parts were in all the right places. Assured of the status of her child, she reveled in the miracle she had performed.

It was an overwhelming concept to wrap her mind around. This living breathing human being, a completely new and unique individual had come from her. She had been responsible for his creation, his existence. He had grown inside of her from nothing, well not nothing, but practically nothing. It was awe-inspiring to consider the knowledge that he grew from just two little cells, and it _had_ taken two. She hadn't been wholly responsible for his existence. Without Tony, she would never have had this child, this miracle that she held in her arms.

Kate looked up at the father of her baby. She had never seen such a wide and genuine grin upon the man's face before. She returned it almost tenfold as she gestured for him to move closer. She gently handed the child off into his arms, _her_ child, _his _child, _their _child.

Tony looked upon the child in his arms,_ his_ child, his and Kate's. He was officially a father now. Hehad beenwondering when he'd feel different, _if_ he'd feel different. There seemed to be so much hype about it, most of it he had never believed. But now that he held his child, his flesh and blood in his arms, he felt what others had failed to describe to him; the pride, the instant and undeniable bond to the child, the sense of responsibility, and most of all, the pure indestructible love.

Another glance at Kate told him that she was eager to have her child in her arms again. He returned the child to his mother. She deserved to revel in what she had accomplished; she _had_ done most of the work anyhow.

"Have you picked out a name yet?" the doctor asked, interrupting the couple's fawning over the newborn.

Kate looked up, glanced at the doctor, and locked eyes with Tony.

"Yes," she responded.

"Oh, no," Tony said. From their last discussion he didn't like the direction this might be heading. "It was a nice thought, naming him after Gibbs-and god knows I'd love to see the look on his face when we told him-but think of the poor kid. Leroy? Jethro? We can't do that to him!"

There seemed to be no response on Kate's face. It held the same expression of determination throughout his tirade. Tony prayed that the child wouldn't blame him when he got beat up everyday in school. But he surmised that that must bewhy Gibbs was as tough as he was…a boy could only take so many wedgies before he fought back. He watched as Kate turned to the doctor, ready to seal his son's fate, full of taunting and swirlies.

"His name is Anthony Todd Dinozzo," she said firmly, before returning her attention to the baby's father in order to catch his reaction.

"What? Really!" Tony asked, surprised and ecstatic. Kate nodded her head, a bright amused smile upon her face. It was the best gift she had ever given him, besides the child himself. "I love it! Tony Jr.!"

"No!" Kate said emphatically.

"Too _Sopranos_?" he asked.

"You think?" she responded with sarcasm, but failed to achieve her usually sardonic edge as she continued to smile and exude a sense of blissfulness.

"I think Andy will do fine," she added softly as she once again returned her attention to the child she cradled close to her exhausted body.

They were both tired from the ordeal, the burden of the responsibility, and the knowledge of what was to come. However they both new that they had never been so happy norin love in their entire lives as they were at that moment, and they probably never would be again, so they savored it with every ounce of their being.

THE END

**Author's final note: I know that "unswaddling" isn't a word. I just like it and wanted to use it. **

**Author's FINAL final note: HOORAY! I'm DONE!**


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